Rock Star is a 2001 movie starring Mark Wahlberg and directed by Stephen Herek. The film also stars Jennifer Aniston. It was shot almost entirely in and around Los Angeles, but part of the film takes place in Pittsburgh.
The movie depicts, approximately, the life of an '80s heavy metal band, with the highs and lows of fame, drugs, rock and roll, and groupies. The band depicted in the movie, Steel Dragon, is fictional.
The film was inspired by the real-life story of Tim 'Ripper' Owens, singer in a Judas Priest tribute band who was chosen to replace singer Rob Halford when he left the band. The original title of the movie was to be Metal God, similar to signature Judas Priest song "Metal Gods".
This is the executive producer debut of George Clooney, Wahlberg's co-star from Three Kings and The Perfect Storm.
The band members are portrayed by ex-Dokken current Foreigner bassist Jeff Pilson, Black Label Society and ex-Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde (Zakk's rhythm guitarist Nick Catanese plays the lead guitarist in Chris' tribute band Blood Pollution), actor and guitarist Dominic West, and ex-Foreigner drummer and son of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, Jason Bonham. Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge makes an appearance as 'Thor' in the movie. Also, the singing voice for Mark Wahlberg's character was Steelheart frontman Miljenko Matijevic. Jeff Scott Soto (of Talisman, Yngwie Malmsteen, Soul Sirkus, Journey) provided the voice of the fictional band's original singer whom Wahlberg's character replaces.
The band Blood Pollution is also comprised of known musical artists, including the aforementioned guitarist Nick Catanese (Black Label Society), drummer Blas Elias (Slaughter), and bassist Brian Vander Ark, (The Verve Pipe, who also contributed a song to the film's soundtrack). The only member of the two main bands who is not an established musician is Blood Pollution's guitarist Timothy Olyphant.
Plot
Rock Star tells the story of Chris Cole (Wahlberg) and a rock band called Steel Dragon. Cole is a photocopier technician by day, and the lead singer of a Steel Dragon tribute band called "Blood Pollution" by night.
Internal struggles between the Steel Dragon band members culminate with the firing of the lead singer, Bobby Beers (Jason Flemyng) and the starting of recruitment sessions to find a new vocalist. Chris experiences his own internal strife with his bandmates, particularly guitarist Rob Malcolm (Timothy Olyphant) and is fired from Blood Pollution. He is given an audition with Steel Dragon (thanks to two of Blood Pollution's groupies who had a tape of one of their concerts) and joins them as their new singer, adopting the stage name "Izzy."
Following a successful debut concert with Steel Dragon where the band's long time fans seem to accept him, Izzy has to come to grips with the pressures of his newfound fame and success. The band embarks on a lengthy tour and Izzy experiences the excesses of the lifestyle. His new lifestyle impacts his life both for better and worse, particularly with his relationship with his supportive girlfriend, Emily (Jennifer Aniston). The group's band manager Mats (Timothy Spall) serves as a sympathetic mentor to Izzy.
After a conversation with Mats, Izzy begins to reconsider his rock star lifestyle. In a scene directly paralleling one near the beginning of the film with their roles reversed, Izzy hears a fan (portrayed by Myles Kennedy) singing along with him toward the end of a live concert. Impressed, Izzy pulls him onstage, and hands him the microphone to finish out the concert. Backstage, Izzy realizes that what he wanted for so long wasn't what he thought, and he goes to the back room and says goodbye to Mats, departing from the band while doing so.
Izzy (now Chris Cole again) makes his way to Seattle and starts a new coffee-house rock band. (An allusion to the end of 1980s hair metal and the beginnings of the grunge rock movement) He finds Emily working in the coffee shop she and her roommate purchased a few months earlier, but is initially too ashamed to meet her. While walking one evening, Emily sees a flyer for his band posted on the wall and takes it down. In the final scene, Chris is singing with his band in a bar and Emily walks in. Chris leaves the stage and meets her. They reconcile, ending the film with a kiss.
Cast
- Mark Wahlberg ... Chris 'Izzy' Cole
- Jennifer Aniston ... Emily Poule
- Jason Flemyng ... Bobby Beers, Steel Dragon Lead Singer
- Dominic West ... Kirk Cuddy, Steel Dragon Guitarist
- Jason Bonham ... A.C., Steel Dragon Drummer
- Jeff Pilson ... Jorgen, Steel Dragon Bassist
- Zakk Wylde ... Ghode, Steel Dragon Guitarist
- Timothy Spall ... Mats, Steel Dragon Road Manager
- Timothy Olyphant ... Rob Malcolm, Blood Pollution Guitarist
- Blas Elias ... Donny Johnson, Blood Pollution Drummer
- Nick Catanese ... Xander Cummins, Blood Pollution Guitarist
- Brian Vander Ark ... Ricki Bell, Blood Pollution Bassist
- Dagmara Dominczyk ... Tania Asher, Steel Dragon Public Relations
- Stephan Jenkins ... Bradley, Black Babylon Singer
- Matthew Glave ... Joe Cole
- T.R. Miller ... Tim Sin
- Myles Kennedy ... Thor
- Michael Shamus Wiles ... Mr. Cole
- Neil Zlozower ... Photographer
- Heidi Mark ... Kirk's Wife
- Rachel Hunter ... A.C.'s Wife
- Ralph Saenz ... Auditioning Singer
The "Ripper" Owens parallels
The similarities between the life of former Judas Priest vocalist Tim 'Ripper' Owens and the film's protagonist were intentional. In the film, a copier sales rep from a working-class mid-sized city lives for fronting a "tribute" band paying homage to his favorite heavy metal group. When footage shot by a third-party of his live performance makes it to the famous British band's management, they decide to audition him to replace their departing lead singer, which parallels Owens' experience with Judas Priest.
The storyline was "re-imagined" with a few details changed (e.g. set in Pittsburgh instead of Akron, in the 1980s instead of the '90s, etc.). Rock Star's producers stated this was a result of their wanting to take the script in a different direction. However, Owens later stated that it had to do with a failure to reach a financial agreement with the Judas Priest camp for the rights to the story.
Also, the timeline of the film coincides with that of the "social death" of mainstream metal and gives way to the "grunge" movement of the early 90s.
In addition, a costume that strongly resembles one of Rob Halford's stage outfits is on display in the band's mansion.
The original and current lead singer of Judas Priest, Rob Halford (loosely portrayed by Jason Flemyng in the movie) has stated that Rock Star is one of his favourite movies and that he found it amusing.
Soundtrack
A small number of the songs featured in the film and on the soundtrack were released after the dates given in the film. They are marked with an asterisk.
- Everclear - "Rock Star" — 3:30
- Steel Dragon - "Livin' the Life" — 3:14
- Mötley Crüe - "Wild Side"* — 4:34
- Steel Dragon - "We All Die Young" (Steelheart cover) — 4:01
- Steel Dragon - "Blood Pollution" — 3:59
- Bon Jovi - "Livin' on a Prayer"* — 4:08
- Steel Dragon - "Stand Up" — 4:18
- Ted Nugent - "Stranglehold" — 8:23
- Steel Dragon - "Wasted Generation" — 2:54
- Kiss - "Lick It Up" — 3:56
- Steel Dragon - "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" (Rainbow cover) — 3:27
- INXS - "Devil Inside"* — 5:13
- The Verve Pipe - "Colorful" — 4:25
- Trevor Rabin - "Gotta Have It" — 2:57
Partial list of songs that were featured in the movie but did not appear on the soundtrack CD:
External links
